Bridging the Gap: What Law Schools in India Don't Teach

November 26th, Law Day, also known as Constitution Day or Samvidhan Divas, a day that commemorates the adoption of our Constitution and reflects our commitment to the rule of law and justice. As we celebrate this foundational moment, it’s imperative to consider the future of this legal landscape—our law students. 

With the policy of liberalization introduced for foreign direct investments in 1991, followed by globalization and the advent of information technology, the way businesses, governments and public institutions are being conducted has undergone a sea change. This transformation has resulted in a huge demand for consulting, engineering, management, accounting, and particularly the legal professionals in India.

Fortunately, in recent years, law has become a preferred career choice for many young students across all strata of society, alongside management and engineering fields. This growing interest underscores the need to equip these future legal professionals not just with theoretical knowledge but with practical skills and real-world experience to meet the demands of a diverse and evolving society.

Previously, the career in law was restricted to families of lawyers and judges.  However, with the formation of the National Law Schools which has transformed the perception of legal education in India and have exerted considerable effort to impart quality legal education. We must congratulate and commend their efforts. However, I must say that there is still much that needs to be done and we have to necessarily re-design our legal education be it academics and also practical training.

In this article, I would like to highlight a few areas where law students still face humongous challenges, particularly the opportunity to gain practical training and hands on experience, which needs urgent attention if we are to produce truly effective lawyers. The main challenge today facing law students is securing well-thought-out and structured and/or specialised internships, whether in law firms, with senior lawyers, the judiciary, institutions, or industry, followed by placement.   Our internships today are more ad-hoc and totally unstructured. 

Here are my three suggestions for consideration:

Legal Fraternity Involvement: I strongly recommend that the Supreme Court of India of India in consultation with the Bar Council & Ministry of Law, to issue mandatory directives to the legal fraternity to make internships compulsory and come forward to help the next generation of lawyers. The government could be made to provide financial support for internship to young lawyers who are hired, akin to other skills development or other paid internship government programs. This is must for two and three tier cities. 

Integration with SMEs and Startups: Today, we have more than 6.5 crore SMEs, MSMEs, and Startups in India most of them are struggling to secure legal support on their recoveries, day-to-day commercial agreements/ documentations including their financing/ borrowings, and licensing & regulatory compliances for their business operations. Law students could be easily roped into these industries as interns to offer this support under a learn-and-earn policy.   For this I would recommend the Industry Chambers and Business forums to come forward and be the bridge to connect law students and the industries. 

Legal Clinics at Law Schools: Law schools should be asked to run free legal clinics  or host lok-adalats under the supervision of retired judges of the SC/ HC/ Districts or retired tribunal members like the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), National Green Tribunal (NGT), Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT) and Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT), among others, along with law students. While this would help law students gain the much-needed domain expertise of various subjects and also practical hands-on experience, it could also help reduce the judicial backlog of cases.

I have suggested several measures in my book, Companion Handbook for Law Students: What They Don't Teach You at Law Schools in India for structured and innovative internship programs. These measures would certainly go a long way in improving the quality of lawyering in India.

Conclusion: As we continue to evolve legal education, it is essential to ensure that our future lawyers are not only well-versed in the theoretical aspects of law but are also proficient in handling practical challenges. By integrating real-world experience with academic learning, we can better prepare our students for the dynamic landscape of law and justice.